Merely being a tight end at Stanford almost guarantees star status. Partly because the Cardinal tight ends are so talented, partly because Stanford emphasizes the use of tight ends, partly because the Cardinal have lacked game-breaking wide receivers and partly because power football is Stanford's offensive identity, tight end has become the glamour position on the Farm.

In fact, the Cardinal have nine tight ends on their roster, more than any other Pac-12 team.

The Cardinal make such varied use of the tight end that they have two tight end positions - a Y tight end and an F tight end - and they often are on the field together.

The Y tight end - played last year by Toilolo and this year by Kaumatule - is the blocking tight end who lines up alongside the tackle and is used on underneath pass routes. Like his 6-foot-8 predecessor, Kaumatule offers a huge target with his 6-foot-7, 265-pound athletic frame.

The F tight end spot, occupied by Ertz last season, is a hybrid wide receiver/tight end used on downfield passing schemes. Davis Dudchock, who played in just one game last season, is listed as the starter, but he's being challenged for playing time by Charlie Hopkins and Eddie Plantaric, who both came to Stanford as defensive ends, just as Kaumatule did.

For now, Kaumatule's only collegiate highlight was a block that sprung Ertz for a touchdown against USC last season. Apparently that and Stanford's reputation for tight ends were enough to put him on the Mackey watch list.

Indeed, a Stanford player has never won the Mackey Award in its 13 years of existence. If Stanford gets what it needs from its tight ends this season, that may change.

Briefly: Stanford was ranked No. 4 in the Associated Press preseason rankings released Saturday. It's the Cardinal's highest preseason AP ranking ever. Their previous preseason high was No. 7, achieved in 1950 and 2011. ... Defensive end Ben Gardner is a bit banged up and did not participate much in practice Saturday. Shaw said he might practice Sunday, though. ... Saturday's practice was the first time this season the team had live tackling. "The defense is always ahead of the offense at this point," Shaw said. "For us, it might be that way for a while."